2015 Jaguar XKR-S: Not Going Quietly Into The Night

Is there anything sadder than a funeral for a friend?  Jaguar has declared 2015 to be the final year of production for the XK coupe and convertible, with not even the ultra high performance Jaguar XKR-S gaining a stay of execution.  Riding on a platform that dates back ten years, and facing shifting crash safety regulations that would require an expensive investment in the automaker’s grand tourer, Jaguar has elected to forge ahead with the F-Type as its only sporty two-door model for the foreseeable future.

Still, there’s time to make the send-off for this powerful luxury cruiser as raucous as possible.  Substituting tire smoke for incense, and high test gasoline for tears, I spent my final week with the 2015 Jaguar XKR-S in a torque-induced daze of tire-shredding debauchery.

• Also: Jaguar Unveils The 2016 XE

Veteran Athlete

Although certainly not cheap, with a starting price north of $139,000, the Jaguar XKR-S offers the kind of presence, power, and prestige normally reserved for vehicles twice its asking.  The model I drove was outfitted with a carbon fibre front splitter, rear under-car diffuser, and rear spoiler that complimented its sleek, long lines while reducing aerodynamic lift by just over 25 percent.  This was a fitting match for the aggressive hood and side scoops attached to the XKR-S, along with its quad exhaust pipes and enormously wide 20-inch rims.  Even despite its clear racer leanings, with a ride height that’s slightly lower than that of the standard XK, the Jaguar maintains a dignity and poise that sees it tastefully slipping in beside much pricier Aston Martin and Ferrari coupes at the country club valet station.

The interior is a similar, if slightly more dated, story.  The XKR-S gains special heated sport seats with unique color-keyed stitching to go with its leather door inserts and black leather headliner.  The wheel is wrapped in Alcantara, and while front accommodations are generous, the rear two positions are best left to whatever luggage you can’t cram under the XKR-S’ large hatch.  Where the Jaguar shows its age is in its infotainment and navigation system, which hearkens back to a simpler time, and in the fact that the company elected to remove advanced safety gear such as adaptive cruise control from the vehicle’s list of available equipment for 2015.

Old Bones, Young Spirit

Although the 2015 Jaguar XKR-S might appear as though it has been suited up exclusively for track duty, the large coupe actually serves two masters.  On the one hand, its overboosted 5.0-liter V8 engine delivers 550 horsepower and 502 lb-ft of torque, making it the most powerful production Jaguar ever built. This is reflected in its straight-line performance, which I clocked at 12.8 seconds in the quarter mile at a trap speed north of 190 km/h.

On the other, the Jaguar XKR-S also offers the kind of buttoned-down highway composure that makes it an excellent companion when travelling hundreds of kilometres from one city to another.  Passing power is of course capable of obliterating all but the most exotic of rides that one might encounter during one’s travels, but most impressive is the all-aluminium coupe’s ability to civilize its highly-tuned suspension system to absorb expansion joints and construction work without breaking an egg.

Once you’ve tired of living under the Jaguar’s velvet veil, simply turn the transmission dial to sport and activate the car’s ‘dynamic’ mode and Track DSC stability control setting via the console-mounted buttons and you can enter brand new territory.  The multi-stage exhaust system snugged up to the underside of the XKR-S suddenly bellows and snorts where once it subtly growled, and the vehicle’s handling is further sharpened via electronic traction management wizardry.  Blipping the throttle by way of steering wheel paddle-induced downshifts elicits addictively excellent sounds from the rear of the coupe, although it’s clear that the six-speed automatic transmission outfitted to the Jaguar XKR-S is its biggest liability – at the drag strip, the three-four shift was languorous and tortured in a way that would be completely foreign to the newer F-Type’s eight-speed unit (both are manufactured by ZF).

A Viking Funeral

It’s a bit hard to believe that Jaguar is on the verge of not having a gorgeous GT car in its line-up for the first time since I was born to this Earth, but at the very least the 2015 XKR-S is a fitting send-off for a well-respected luxury model.  This is a special coupe, and an uncommon one at that – over 1,200 kilometres of road-tripping in the Jaguar had me encountering no other examples of the XK, in any form.  Showing how much vitality can be squeezed out of a well-understood chassis and drivetrain by a small company dedicated to producing what are amongst the most stylish and heart-stopping vehicles on the market, the XKR-S reminds us that, even after it has shuffled off this mortal coil, there will be some corner of a foreign parking lot that is forever England.